Thanks! I started having health problems in 2009 and everything stopped. The camera you're alluding to was a Nikon D80(now outdated) which was also parked in '09 after visiting Washington Park Arboretum. Those sd card images are still waiting to be uploaded! Feeling better i decided to revisit film with it's attached sense of occasion, something lacking the world of digital and instant gratification. I'm still relearning the complex F100 but the all manual AE1 is a joy to use. Sorry I posted this in the wrong forum. Perhaps a mod can move it gallery?

When driving from the west side of Washington state to the east side you pass from Doug fir/hemlock dominated forests to Ponderosa pine dominated forestland, virtually as soon as you traverse the mountain pass. The scent of the pines is extremely distinct, especially in warmer weather. And I'd have to say that my experience with incense cedars, Calocedrus decurrens, is that they also have a very detectable fragrance. And the foliage of popular lemon-lime cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest' (or 'Wilma Goldcrest') has a very pungent citrusy fragrance but only when bruised or disturbed. It's not a pleasant fragrance - many consider it rather 'cat-like' - but various species of juniper can reek on warm, sunny days. IME, it seems to be warmth that triggers most coniferous fragrances......plus, larger groupings of the plants rather than single specimens. But none of these are firs :-( I also notice the very camphor-like aroma of eucalypts everytime I visit southern California, where these trees grow like weeds (and in many cases, ARE weeds). But I do believe the scent or aroma of plants has a lot to do with how sensitized you are to them - they seem to be less distinguishable if you live with them on a day to day basis. The scent of the eucalyptus becomes much less pronounced after I've been there a few days :-)

Kathy, we recently replaced our 24 year old soap stone stove with a Harman coal/wood steel stove and are very happy with it. The soap stove was very slow to heat up and one of the stone cracked and could not be replaced with the same color. The Harman Mark III stove heats very quickly and puts out a ton of heat ,, 92k btu's and has a blower to add additional heat as well. Since we have been in a very cold period here in the NE we have been using nut coal only. The benefits to coal are it will burn much hotter and last many times longer ,, up to 24 hours before a reload. Coal does make more ash but after it cools I put it out with the trash. Also coal is easier to store and does not create creosote. Ours is a manual feed so no electricity is needed to run it vs the stoker that uses electricity to continually feed the rice size coal via an auger. Hope this helps, Eric

We have a very strict gender division of labor in this household, handymac. DH does demo and wood. We draw straws for plumbing (loser plumbs, of course). I do electricity, masonry, and design. He will faithfully execute whatever I draw. Sometimes (most of the time?)I draw things that can't be done, though, and that's what happened here. I'll pour the concrete top for the vanity, but the cabinet is his domain. He has a bajillion clamps because they are such good stocking stuffers :) He even has clamps for making squares. So he'll be fine, except for me poking my nose in and asking him if he's doing it right every few minutes. If he has any questions, I will take photos and post them here and seek out your advice. Thank you! Renee